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NEWS, NOTES AND HAPPENINGS FROM THE WORLD OF BOWLING /// NOVEMBER 2011 Bulletin Board Gold


or U.S. bowlers pining for the Olympic experience, the quadrennial Pan American Games offer a pretty decent


view. The recently completed 2011 Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, featured 6,000 American Zone ath- letes from 42 nations, competing in 36 sports (many of which are already con- tested in the Summer Games), making it the second largest multi-sport event. And bowlers who have represented


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the United States since 1991, when bowling became a medal sport in the Pan Am Games, have enjoyed incred- ible success. Entering the 2011 Games, Americans had won 17 of a possible 24 gold medals in bowling. The American quartet of Chris


Barnes, Bill O’Neill, Kelly Kulick and Liz Johnson arrived at Bolerama Tapa-


Team USA Wins Three of Four Golds At the 2011 Pan Am Games


tio hoping to up that total to 21, and for a while it looked like that might well be the case. The Americans dom- inated qualifying in both doubles and singles, and in the end returned with three of the four possible gold medals. In a fi eld represented by 16 nations,


Barnes and O’Neill topped the men’s fi eld by 193 pins in doubles, leading from start to fi nish and fi nishing with a 12-game total of 5,211. Kulick and Johnson were even more impressing, leading from the opening game and blowing through the women’s fi eld with 328 pins to spare, completing the 12 games with 5,257. “We worked very well together,”


said Johnson, of Cheektowaga, N.Y. “We both had a good look and continued to make great shots.” In 24 combined games, neither


7 USBOWLER NOVEMBER 2011


bowler shot less than 190. The Americans continued to domi-


nate in singles, earning the top two spots in men’s and women’s quali- fying. Johnson, who was second in qualifying, marched through three victories to reach the championship match, where she easily defeated Can- ada’s Jennifer Park, 232-196 and 235- 190, in the best-of-three format. “There were some great players in


this fi eld,” Johnson said later. “It was a tough battle but it feels great to come out on top.” Kulick, of Union, N.J., led the


women’s fi eld with a 12-game total of 2,644, but bowed out in the opening round of match play, losing to Bra- zil’s Stephanie Martins, 630-587, in a three-game total pinfall match. In men’s singles, Barnes, of Double


Oak, Texas, came within a match of completing a gold-medal sweep for the Ameri- cans, but lost in straight games


to Colombia’s Santiago Mejia in the title match. “It is disappointing not to win the


gold,” said Barnes, who fell to Mejia 189-171 and 205-193. “He bowled very well and kept all the pressure on me.” Team USA’s O’Neill, of Southamp-


ton, Pa., also lost to eventual champi- on Mejia in a three-game, total pinfall quarterfi nal match, 711-589. “Anytime you win three of four


gold medals you can’t say anything but that it was successful,” Team USA head coach Rod Ross said. “Just to be recognized with the


Olympic sports here at the Pan Amer- ican Games is a great feeling,” Kulick added. “Any U.S. athlete who walks around with a gold medal around their neck is respected, and that’s a really nice feeling.”


GOLDEN ROLLERS: Team USA stars (l-r) Kelly Kulick, Liz Johnson, Chris Barnes and Bill O’Neill captured gold three of four available gold medals at the Pan Am Games.


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